There’s nothing like an old friend to put you on the spot, which is exactly what Miley Cyrus did with her one-time Disney Channel cohorts, the Jonas Brothers, when she asked them about their purity rings in a new radio interview.
The Jonas Brothers appeared on Capital FM’s Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, where they were grilled by Kemp and co-hosts Vick Hope and Sonny Jay on their band’s reboot. After sharing details on what got the brothers to reunite and release new singles “Sucker” and “Cool,” Kemp introduced a question from someone outside of the studio: Cyrus, who previously appeared on the radio program and was given the opportunity to ask a question of the bros.
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Her choice was...ideal, really.
“My question for the Jonas Brothers is, did it feel so good taking off your purity rings?,” Cyrus said, before adding more suggestively, “And did it feel so good taking off your purity ring, you know what I’m saying?”
Joe was the only brother to speak up: “I mean...yeah,” he said.
In 2013, Joe wrote an essay for Vulture about his time working with Disney, as well as other aspects of he and his brothers' early career. Joe discussed participating in chastity program True Love Waits and wearing a promise ring, which, he said, affected the brothers’ image.
"Kevin and I decided to join [True Love Waits] — Nick tried it later. Fast-forward a few years, we’ve started playing music and we’re working with Disney and we have these rings,” wrote Joe. “[Back] then, we explained that we had made these promises to ourselves [to not have sex] when we were younger. A few months later, it comes out that we’re in some cult and that we’re these little staged Mickey Mouse kids. People were coming up to us, saying, ‘Thank you so much, I’m waiting because you guys are, too!’ And we just thought, No! That’s not what we’re about."
That moment Cyrus asked about in the interview? It eventually happened.
"We decided to take the rings off a few years ago," Joe added. “I lost my virginity when I was 20. I did other stuff before then, but I was sexually active at 20. I’m glad I waited for the right person, because you look back and you go, ‘That girl was batshit crazy. I’m glad I didn’t go there.’”
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Cyrus knows what it's like to remove her promise ring — she wore one, too.
“Even at my age, a lot of girls are starting to fall,” Miley Cyrus told People in 2008. “And I think if [staying a virgin] is a commitment girls make, that’s great."
People change, and sometimes jewelry that seemed like a great idea at the time just doesn't work forever. These days, the Jonas Brothers are all married men — and there are no promise rings in sight.
Check out the interview below: